hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in northern, as we await the second white house press briefs of the biden presidency, jen psaki, who will be joined today by dr. fauci, fresh off the announcement this morning that the united states will remain a members. today's briefs on the first full day of the biden presidency, the first focus was beating covid.

that was the focus of a moment today, everywhere you looked, it was a start contrast. a commitment to clarity, transparency, science and truth. we're going to play you a long portion of the president's remarks, because it is no longer a danger to public health to do so. >> for the past year, we couldn't rely on the federal government to act with the urgency, focus and coordinate we needed. we have seen the tragic cost of that failure. let me be very clear. things will continue to get worse before they get better. the memorial we held two nights ago will not be our last one, unfortunately. the death toll will likely top 500,000 next month. the cases will continue to mount. we didn't get into this mess

overnight. it's going to take months to turn things around, but let me be equally clear -- we will get through this. we will defeat this pandemic. to a nation waiting for action, let me be the clearest on this point -- help is on the way. our national strategy is comprehensive, it's based on science, not politics. ist based on truth, not denial, and it's detailed. we will make sure that science and public health experts will speak directly to you. that's why you'll hear more from dr. fauci again, not from the president, but from the real, genuine experts and scientists. we're going to make sure they work free from political interference, and they make decisions strictly based on science and health care alone. science and health alone. not with the political consequences are. vice president harris and i and

our entire administration will be transparent with you. >> truth, transparency, adults in the room, more fauci? what a difference a day makes. "new york times" describes it as, quote -- the national strategy for the pandemic outlines the kind of muscular and highly coordinated federal response to democrats have long demanded and that trump refused. biden administration including invoking the defense protection act, expanding testing and treatment, guidance for schools and businesses, requiring masks while traveleding, and addressing racial inequities. the white house briefing about to get under way, we've been given a two-minute warning. when it starts we'll go to it. watching with us is ashley parker. white house bureau chief, a new post for her. dr. kavita patel is watching. and david plouffe.

let's listen in. >> many familiar faces from yesterday. we are please the to have dr. fauci here with us as part of the president'smentment to have health experts lead the communication with the people about the pandemic. a run of show here, dr. fauci will speak at the top about the state of the pandemic, the status of vaccines, he'll take some of your questions. i will play the role of the bad cop when it's time for him to get and get to the work of the american people, then i will do a topper and answer a bunch of questions as well. there's lots to come after this. with that, i'll turn it over to dr. fauci. >> thank you very much. i'm going to spend a couple minutes just summarizing the status of where we are and then maybe addressing some of the things that i know are on people's minds. so, first of all, obviously we're still in a very serious situation.

to have over 400,000 deaths is historic in a very bad sense. when you look at the number of new infections we have, it's still at a high rate. hospitalizations are up in certainly areas of the country, which are really stressed from the standpoint of beds, from the standpoint of the stress on the healthcare system. however when you look more recently at the seven-day average of cases. right now it looks like it might actually be plateauing in the sense of turning around. now, there's good news in that, but you have to be careful that we may not be seeing perhaps an artifact, an artifact of slowing down following the holidays. when we see that, we think it's real, but one of the things -- i'm sort of getting a deja vu standing up here, because i said

something similar to this about a year ago, when we were talking about the acceleration of cases in the late wind/early spring of 2020, when we were having new york city metropolitan area being the epicenter of what was going on, that there are always lags. so please be aware of that. when you have cases and then a couple weeks later you'll see it represented in hospitalizations, intensive care, a couple weeks later, in deaths. you have almost a paradoxical curves, when you see something when deaths might actually be going up. this i just put on your radar screen. it's not an unusual thing to see that sort of thing. the other point i want to make is one we're getting asked a lot regarding questions. that is it what about they mutants you're hearing about. the mutants in the uk which we

know are in about 20-plus states, the mutens in south africa and in brazil. first of all we need to understand rna viruses mutate all the time. most of the mutations don't have any physiological relevance with regard to the function of the virus itself. however, every once in a while you get mutations, either singly or clustered in combinations which do have impact. what have we learned thus far? and i want to emphasize thus far. we're paying close attention to this. at least from the experience from our colleagues in the uk, the one in the uk appears to have a great are degree of transmissibility, twice as much as what we call the wild type, the original virus. the one that is in south africa is a bit different.

i'll get to that in a second. it looks like it increases the transmissibility. they say correctly, on a one-to-one basis, it doesn't seem to make the virus more virulent. if you have a virus more transmissible, you get more cases. when you get more cases, you get more hospitalizations. when you get more hospitalizations, you ultimately will get more deaths. even though the virus isn't more serious, the phenomenon of a more transmissible virus is something that you take seriously. the next thing is, does it change enough to interfere with the efficacy of a whole group of monoclonal antibodies, that many of you are aware of, the monoclonal antibodies being used for treatment in some cases and

prevent. since they bind to a very specific part of the virus, when there's a mutation there, it has much greater a chance of obliterating the efficacy of a monoclonal antibody. we're seeing in the much more concerning mutations that are in south africa, and in some respects brazil, which is similar to south after, that is having an effect on the monoclonal antibodies. the real question that people are quite clearly interested in, is what is the impact on the vaccine? so far literally we have this new phenomenon, where people get data, and they put it into a preprint server, where it hasn't yet been peer reviewed, but you have to pay attention to it. it gives you good information quickly. ultimately it gets confirmed. we're seeing them coming out over the last few days, and what they're saying is that what we

likely will be seeing is a diminution more south africa than uk. uk is that diminution in what would be the efficacy of the vaccine-induced antibodies. that does not mean the vaccines will not be effective. there's a thing called a cushion effect. so if you have a vaccine like the moderna and pfizer vaccine that can suppress the virus at a dilution, let's say of 1 to 1,000, and the mutant influences it by bringing it down to maybe 1 to 800, or something like that, you're still well above the line of not being effective. so there's that cushion, that even though it's diminished somewhat, it still is effective. that's who seeing both, certainly with the uk, which is minimal effect. we're following very carefully the one in south africa, which is a bit more concerning, but

nonetheless not something that we don't think that we can't handle. what is the message? someone would say, wait a minute, if you have the you -- why are we vaccinateling people? no, it is all the more reasons why we should by vac nating as many as you possibly can. as long as the virus is replicating, viruses don't mutate unless they replicate. if you can suppress that by a very good vaccine campaign, then you can actually avoid this deleterious effect you may get. we're paying very close attention to it. there are alternative fans if we ever have to modify the vaccine that's not something that's a very onerous thing be can do that given the platforms we have, but right now we want to

pay close attention. so maybe i should stop there and answer any questions. >> reporter: how helpful would it have been in amazon got involved with the federal response to covid-19 before biden took office? >> i don't know that i can answer -- one of the new things in this administration, if you don't know the answer, don't guess. >> reporter: i'd like to follow up with you on what you just said about this strain in south africa. has that strain made its way to the united states? and what are the concerns do you have? how much do we understand about it? >> great question.

thus far, it does not appear at all that the south african strain is in the united states. however, we must be honest and say that the level of comprehensive sequence surveillance thus far is not at the level that we would have liked. we're going to be looking very carefully for it. given the information we have today, it doesn't appear that strain is here. >> reporter: if i could ask you about the effort to distribute the vaccine, which of course that's what most people want to know is the biden administration starting from scratch? >> we're certainly not starting from scratch. there is activity going on in the distribution but if you look at the plan the president has put forth about the things he 'going to do, namely community

centers up, pharmacies more involved, where appropriate get the defense production act involved, not only perhaps with getting more vaccine, but even the things you need to get a good vaccine program, for example, needles and syringes that might be more useful in that. so it's taking what's gone on, but amplifying it in a big way. >> reporter: president biden said what was there was abysmal. is there anything actionable that you're taking from the previous administration? is that delaying your action? >> we're coming in with fresh ideas, but also some ideas that were not bad ideas with the previous administration. we're going to see a real ramping up of this. >> reporter: you said most people will be vaccinated by

middle 2021? is that still your expectation? >> yes, i believe the president's goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days i think is a reasonable goal. and something we need to pay attention to -- and quite frankly i've been spending a considerable amount of my time, outreaching particularly to minority communities, to make sure you get them vaccinated and explain why it's so important for themselves, their family and their community. if we get 70% to 85% of the country vaccinated by the middle of the summer, i believe by the time we get to the fall, we will be approaching a degree of normality, it won't be perfectly normal, but one i think will take a lot of pressure off the american public. >> reporter: you're one of the few holdovers from the previous

administration. what has been your experience with this team? and what had your -- >> i can tell you my impression of what's going on right now, i don't know if i can extrapolate other things, but one of the things that was clear as recently as of about 15 minutes ago when i was with the president, is that one of the things we're going to do is be completely transparent, open and honest. if things go wrong -- not pointing fingers, but to correct them, and make everything we do be based on science and evidence. that was literally a conversation from 15 minutes ago, and he's said that several times. >> reporter: is that license to amend or clarify? >> no, i mean, i always said -- that's why i got in trouble

sometimes. >> reporter: you mentioned pharmacies. the new cdc director today said the goal of getting vaccinations into pharmacies by the end of next month isn't realistic as had been previously suggested. when will most americans be able to get a vaccination in their neighborhood pharmacy? >> i didn't hear that comment. will you talking about dr. walensky? i didn't hear that comment, so i don't want to be commenting on the comment, but what she's say, many people who don't have access, may not be able to utilize -- i better be careful. i'm not sure what she said. we just had a conversation about how we get vaccinations to people in pharmacy desert areas, where they don't have easy access. that's something we're working on and taking very seriously. >> reporter: to be clear, you are in an area where -- when will you be able to get access

to this vaccine like you would a flu vaccine? >> in the spirit of not guessing, really i'm not quite sure when that will be, but we can get back to on you that. >> reporter: the broader too manyline. the president said the brutal truth is it will be several more months, to be clear you're saying by the fall the majority -- >> no, i didn't say that, if we get 75% to 80% vaccinated we could have a degree of herd immunity to get us back to normal. the concern i have is people who have vaccine hesitancy who don't want to get vaccinated. we need to do a lot of good outreach for that. the best-case scenario for me is 85% of the people vaccinated by

the end of summer. >> reporter: the question about how exactly they increase transmissibility, does it take less exposure time? >> no, what it is. you can do in vitro, binding a an affinity to the receptors, the receptor for the virus is called an ace-2 receptor and facility or affinity with which a virus binds to that means it likely will have a better efficiency of infection and replicate more in the nasopharynx. a virus has the ability to easily bind to and will likely spread easier. >> reporter: it doesn't mean more viral load -- >> well, you could, yes.

in fact, it would mean -- if it binds more easily it could rep lick in the nayo pharynx more easily. the reason why you absolutely should be wearing a mask. it doesn't necessarily make it less effective. if you properly wear a mask, you'll be okay. >> reporter: any data on how widespread that strain is in the united states? >> i think it's in at least 20 states that people have mentioned. the real question is will it become the predominant, or will the strains we already have prevent it from becoming the predominant strain. >> reporter: just to follow up on vaccines, some state and local authorities are saying that they would be able to distribute more vaccines if they had more. is the biden administration now trying to increase production by

moderna and pfizer in the next six weeks? >> yeah, as well as to utilize what we hope will be another player in the field, the j & j, as well as other of the companies. but also as the president has said in his plan, to do whatever he can to expand the availability of vaccines, whatever that is. he said he's going to use every possibility, including the defense production act. >> reporter: can you explain the discrepancy between what some states are saying about needing mob vaccine es and the cdc is saying a lot of vaccines are remains on people's shelves? >> i think that is something we need to take a close look at that is sort of an inconsistent discrepancy particularly the think that's most disturbing, when others would need it, but i

don't know the answer to that question, but we need to look into it. >> reporter: doctor, you have joked a couple times today already about the difference that you feel in being kind of the spokesperson for this issue in this administration versus the previous one can you talk about how different you feel? less constrained? for so many times you stood on the podium with president trump behind you, that was a different feeling i'm sure than it is today. can you talk about how you feel kind of released from what you had been doing for the last year? >> yeah, but you said i was joking about it. i was very serious. i wasn't joking. you know, actually -- i mean, obviously i don't want to be going back over history, but it is very clear there were things that were said, be it regarding

things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable, because they were not based on scientific fact. i can tell you i take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president, so it was really something that you didn't feel you could actually say something and there wouldn't be repercussions about it. the idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. >> you basically vanished for a few months. do you feel like you're back now? >> i think so. >> well, that's my fear -- [ laughter ] >> thank you, dr. fauci. we'll have him back again. >> thank you. >> as i promised, we'll have a

full briefing from here. as you know, a few moments ago the president also released a national covid-19 strategy and signed ten executive orders and oak directives to move quickly to contain the crisis,ium pins everything the president signed today some highlights include an executive order to supply shortfalls for testing and ppe, and directed all agencies to accelerate manufacturing and delivering of supplies such as n95 masks, gowns, gloves, pcr swabs, testing agencies and necessary material. the president signed a presidential memorandum to increase federal reimbursement to states and tribes for the cost of national guard personnel, emergency supplies, and the personnel and equipment needed to create vaccination

centers. an executive order established a covid-19 pandemic testing board to bring the full force of the federal government's expertise to expanding testing supply and increasing access to testing. an executive order to bolster access to covid-19 treatments and clinical car, establishing a comprehensive and coordinated pre-clinical drug discovery. sorry, i had to clear my throat. there's a lot here. directing the department of education and health and human services to provide guidance on safe reopening and operating for schools, childcare providers, and institutions of higher education. an executive order on the occupational safety and health administration to immediately release clear guidance for employers to help keep workers safe from covid-19 exposure. an executive order to rye mask wearing in airports or certain

motors of public transportation, including many trains, airplanes, maritime vessels, and intercity buses. an executive order establishing a covid-19 health equity task force, something we had previously announced, but making it official today to provide specific recommendations to the president for allocating resources and funding for, by race, ethnicity, geography, disability and other considerations. these steps, of course, build on the actions we announced yesterday. i had an additional update. some of you may have seen this late last night, but i wanted to share with you, as a result of one of the executive offense president biden signed yet, the acting homeland security senior issued a memorandum to review and reset immigration enforcement priorities for 100 days beginning tomorrow the department of homeland security will pause removals for certain individuals. this pause will allow the

administration to review and reset enforcement policies, and ensure that resources are dedicated to the most pressing challenges, and that we have a fair and effective enforcement system rooted in responsibly managing the border and protecting our national security and public safety. i had one other item i wanted to flag for you about something what the first lady is up to. let me see if i can find that or will circle back to it a bit later. with that, i'm happy to take questions. zeke, kick us off. >> thanks, jen. there was reporting earlier today about the president's commitment to extending new -- did you talk about the president's directive, additional can you confirm that the president requested reports from the new dni for assessment on potential foreign interference in the 2020 election, and also the -- act? >> i can confirm that the united states intends to seek a

five-year extension of new start as the treaty permits. the president has longing clear that the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty is in the national security interest of the united states, and this extension makes even more sense when the relationship with russia is adversarial as it is this time. new start is the only remaining treaty constraining russian nuclear forces, and is an anchor of stable between our two countries. even as we work with russia to advance u.s. interests, so too we hold russia to account for its reqless and adversarial actions. to this end. the president is issues a tasking to the for the solar winds cyberbreech in 2020 election, its use of chemical weapons against opposition leader alexi navalny and the alleged bounty on u.s. soldiers

in afghanistan. >> reporter: how long is -- if there are critical the need for some sort of you aid here? is it february 1st? it presidents weekend? >> well, i'm not going to set any deadlines on our first full day in the office. hopefully i'll have more on this tomorrow. we will be increasing or engagements. it's already been ongoing even before the president was inaugurated yesterday. hopefully tomorrow we'll have more on meetings, engagements, discussions that will le going on with leaders on capitol hill, and as i conveyed to all of you yesterday his precedent and

priority is a bipartisan package, with both parties to come to an agreement on that. he believes the crises facing the american people as we saw the jobs numbers this morning. as we've seen in the reports from dr. fauci a few minutes ago, this criers is dire, and it requires meet action. we're also not taking options off the table. we will proceed with those discussions over the next couple days. go ahead, kristin. >> reporter: there was some reporting there would be a meeting this weekend with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. can you give us any information on that? >> i think the reporting was --

director dienst will be with a range or group of different members on capitol hill in the coming days. i think we're working to confirm specific meetings, and i hopefully will have more tomorrow. >> reporter: more broadly speaking, president biden has proposed this $1.9 trillion package. we also have republicans saying they're not going to get on board with this, mitt romney saying we just passed a bill with over $900 billion. so how. >> well, i think it's perfectly fits into his message of bipartisanship. he wants to work to address the crises that american people are facing, whether they live in red states, blue states or democrats or republicans. the package was designed on recommendation from health

experts, from economists. it's been applauded by everyone from bernie sanders to the chamber of commerce there are specific pieces in there to serve as a bridge for a lot of people, including unemployment insurance, funding for vaccine distribution, something that is pivotal, for reopening of schools, so part of the discussion we'll be having with members is, what do you want to cut? this is a plan that he feels addresses the crisis at the moment. >> reporter: one quick follow-up. the work of the senate is being held up by this dispute over the filibuster. where does president biden come down on that? does he feel like there should not be a filibuster? >> the president-elect spoke just yesterday, as you all saw, about the spirit of working together and bipartisan ship to face the four crises facing us. you have already seen him work with republicans, democrats, work toward a bipartisan

approach to passing packages that will address the crises we're facing. that certainly is his priority and preference. he'll continue to work on that on day two. mike shear. >> reporter: see, you can call on me. >> i just gave you a hard time. >> reporter: i want to push more on this. if there's a call for unity that the president made, but there's been so far no figure leaf even to the republican party. you don't have a republican cabinet member like president obama and i think president clinton had. the executives orders out of the gate have been largely designed as erasing as much of the trump legacy as you can with executive orders, much of which the republican party likes and agrees with. you put forth an immigration bill with a path to citizenship that doesn't do much of a nod to

the border security, and a covid relief bill -- where is the actual action behind this idea and when will we see some of those substantial outreaches that said, you know, this is something that the republicans want to do, too? let me do my best here. is sorb is -- or do only democrats want their kids to go back to school in do only democrats want vaccines to be distributed across the country? we feel that package -- he feels that package is designed for bipartisan support. i would also say we've had some positive developments on our confirmations, and our nominees. last night, as you saw, the president as nominee, now confirmed, first female leader

of the intelligence community was confirmed with a vote of 85-10, 84-10, you can check me on that, but overwhelming vote. we've seen progress on the nomination and hopeful nomination of lloyd austin. i think republicans there say they are looking for engagement, looking to have a conversation, a dialogue. that's capabilitily what he's going to do. >> has the president sat done with leaders to discuss this package? how much personal involvement will he have? >> i expect he will roll up his sleeves, and will be very involved. as you say his schedule is minute by minute. his family was here, but he was

involved even before yesterday he cease, of course, members of both parties, he northwested leaders to join him at church. that wasn't a discussion about specifics of the bill, but he did have an opportunity to talk about the agenda, working together on his agenda moving forward. >> and having conversations with booth democrats and republicans. >> i think we will have more to share with you, soon, in terms of engagement. >> has the administrationic voked the defense production act? and can you spell out what changes we could see? which companies are being

asked -- >> let me give you a specific example that helped to make it clear for me. one area is to acquire more low dead-volume syringes. that allows them to extract an extra dose of the pfizer vial, so making moore doses available, of course. so reducing bottlenecks, and enables manufacturers for us to empower and invoke, i guess to make sure we have the materials we need i'll have to circle back if it's officially invoked or if it takes time. we'll circle back. >> is the white house drafting a

legislative bill. >> you mean in terms of what he announced last week, last thursday? he announced hi specific ideas and what his vision is, but right now we're having discussions with members of both parties, about what that will look like. no bill draft out of the white house? >> i'm happy to talk to our legislative team, but i think what was important to the. is outlining my vision. here's what i think should be in a package. let's have discussions with both parties and see what comes our sausage making at the other side. i don't think i heard an answer about whether the president supports supporting the filibuster. inch i think what i was conveying to kristin is the

president has been clear. he wants to work with both parties and find bipartisan paths forward. i don't have any conversations to read out for you. i don't think i have more to add to my answer. >> just on the impeachment trial, i know there was some talk about sort of the senate doing both things at the same time, two things at once. there's some reporting this afternoon that republicans are pushing to have the impeachment trial start in february. where do you all stand still now on that? are you still looking for that, both paths to happen at the same time? >> i we we'll leave that to them, and what our biggest priority and focus is ensuring

it doesn't delay the senate, congress moving forward in consideration, in discussion around the covid relief package the president proposed last week. go ahead. >> reporter: i have a question for myself and then a question for someone who cannot be here. my question is this, and it's about unity again. i've heard that the president may pull back on religious exemptions, like for the little sisters, the health and human services javier becerra pursued that line of going after exemptions as attorney general of california. what will the president do with that? >> i haven't discussed that particular issue with him. i'm happy -- there's not a change from what he said earlier

this summer. >> a question from adam longa, we saw the president greet the mayor, will the administration get behind this bill, and does the president support it? >> i hate to disappoint you, but i will have to circle back on that as well. there's quite a bit going on. i have not discussed d.c. statehood with him in the last 36 hours. >> reporter: i look forward to it. >> sounds great. >> reporter: i know the president has obviously made a priority of getting -- is the administration planning to issue any kind of uniform guidance to states on whether to reopen schools, reopen businesses, dining, stuff like that? or are you planning to leave it to states on a patchwork basis?

>> as dr. fauci conveyed, our objective is to ensure that health and medical experts are leading the effort and delivering guidance, communicating it with the public whenever possible. any goodance would come, as you know, from the cdc. we will, of course, defer to that, but part of our priority and our focus here is on provides more engagement with states, more clear guidance from the federal level in terms of how we're planning to operate, what data we're seeing, how vaccines are being distributed, what we see as the challenges. that communication has been lacking, as we understand it, from our conversations in the past few months. that's what we will focus on improving in the months ahead. >> more specifically, are you planning daily or weekly calls with states? how do you plan to have the communication? >> we have an entire covid team, as you know, most of them are official, and part of their role

will be engaging with governors, democrats and republicans, mayors, local elected officials to gain a better understanding of what's happening on the ground. that will be how they're going to be intaking a great of information. obviously healthcare providers and experts on the ground as well. the president and vice president as well want to have those conversations with state and local officials about what they're experiencing, how they see the challenges, and that's something i think in president biden's heart, he is a local elected official still. he gets into the weeds of what they're experiencing, and he will be involved in that himself. go ahead. >> there's a lot of things the administration wants to do, infrastructure, stimulus, tax reform. can you lay out the cadence for the upcoming year? how do you see the major three

things playing out? what order will they be taken up? what will happen? >> what i can lay out on our first full day our initial priorities. they revolve around facing the four crisising that the president has stated the country is facing, getting the pandemic up control, getting people back to work, address our climate crisis. i think for the future, getting the pandemic under control, and that linkage to getting people back to work will be his top priority. >> reporter: what will you say to those who have lost their job or will lose their job as a result of the decision. >> the message of the and white house would be that he is

committed, his record will -- shows the american people he's committed to clean energy jobs, to jobs that are not only good, high-paying jobs, union jobs, but ones that are also good for our environment. he thinking it's possible to do both. he led an effort when he was the vice president to put millions of people to work with those -- both of those priorities in mind. he will continue to do that as president, but he had opposed the keystone pipeline back in 2013, when there was a consideration of the permit -- i don't think it was 2013, i think it was a bit after that. he's been consistent in his view and is delivers on a promise he made on during the campaign. in the back. >> reporter: i wanted to ask you about the relationship, what is president biden's vision of the relation with india?

>> first, i would say that president biden, who of course has visited india many times, respects and values the long bipartisan successful relationship between leaders in india and the united states. he looks forward to a continuation of that. obviously he selected and yesterday she was sworn in the first indian-american to serve as president or vice president, certainly a historic moment for all of us in this country, but a further cementing of the importance of our relationship. go ahead. >> reporter: thanks. two questions. one, on the hatch act, will this administration take that seriously? do you think it's ever appropriate for this white house to have a political event or political meeting? >> well, as you know, there are some political events that are acceptable, but we certainly

take the hatch act seriously, and we'll abide by that. you will not see a political rally on the south lawn of the white house under president biden. >> reporter: this may sound trivial, but presidents and candidates have some events where -- they're fun for the candidate. a big crowned, acceptance speech at the convention, the big crowd at the inauguration, big rallies. because of covid, this president has been denied all of those. has he ever been wiiful about missing the fun parts of being a candy and the inauguration? >> not in front of me. even yesterday or of last couple days, he tried to find a moment of joy with his family and grandchildren, who bring him a great deal of joy.

a recognition of, of course, the great responsibility he has on his shoulders, but a moment in history that he was playing a very important part of. i would say he's been in public office, as you all know, for decades. he's had many joyful moments, but this moments serving for president, coming in in a crisis where thousands of people are dying from the pandemic. millions of people are out of work. it's not really a time for daily joy as leader of the free world, and he's focused on doing his job to get the work done for the american people. >> reporter: why weren't president biden and all the family masked on federal grounds last night if he signed that order? >> at the inaugural -- >> reporter: yes. >> i think he was celebrating an evening, a historic day.

he certainly signed the masked mandate. it's a way to send a message to the american people about the importance of wearing masks, how it can save tens of thousands of lives. you know we take a number of precautions here, mask wears ourselves as we do every single day. i don't know i have more for you on that. >> but as joe biden often talks, it's not just important to be an example of power, but the power of our example. was that a good example for people watching? >> i think the power of his example is also the message he sends by signing 25 executive orders, including almost half of them related to covid. the requirements that we're all under every single day here to ensure we're sending that message to the public. yesterday was a historic moment. he was inaugurated as president of the united states.

he was surrounded by his family. we take a number of precautions, but i think we have bigger issues to worry about at this moment in time. sorry, jeff. go ahead. on new star. do you have any indication from russia that they will object to the extension of five years and has the united states already alerted moscow about its desire? >> well, we have not -- obviously, as you know, a number of our nominees have talked about our intention during their confirmation hearings over the past couple of days of extending new start. i don't have any calls to read out for you but i can check and see if any notifications or discussions have happened this afternoon. >> and the follow-up on something from yesterday, which i think you referred to, but president biden had said that president trump left him a very generous note. and he didn't want to talk about it until he spoke to president trump. are president biden and president trump -- former president trump going to have a

call? >> there's no call planned. what he was conveying is that he didn't want to release a private note without having agreement from the former president. but i wouldn't say he's seeking it through a phone call. he just was even trying to be respectful in that moment of a private letter that was sent. >> with regard to the former president, has president biden spoken to speaker pelosi at all about the timing of when she plans to bring the impeachment articles to the senate and how he would like to see this trial proceed? >> president biden has been pretty clear about what the focus of his conversations are and what his intention is with his engagements with leaders from both sides of the aisle and in both houses of congress, including with speaker pelosi, someone he's known for quite some time, and that is his intention and focus on getting the covid package through. so, he will leave it to her and

to now leader schumer to determine what the path forward and the timeline will be in holding the former president accountable. anita, go back to you. >> you earlier mentioned four priorities of the president. i was surprised to not hear immigration, per se, in that because yesterday many of the executive orders were about immigration. there were two major agency releases last night about immigration. the bill is being introduced today. do you not see that as sort of the second big push after the covid bill? where do you see that? i guess i would say, why is it -- i was going to ask you, why is it going to be, you know, why is it such a priority after the covid bill but you didn't even list it so i wanted to clarify that and get your thoughts on it. >> well, i wouldn't read into that other than immigration, we consider as part of racial equity and part of -- which is a broad issue, but that's how the president has spoken about that crisis over the past several months, and clearly, it is an enormous priority to him,

because we moved forward in announcing the specifics of an immigration bill, an immigration package. he is eager to move forward on with congress in his first day in office. but as you know, there's been a lot of history on efforts to do comprehensive immigration reform, to do any form of immigration reform, and what we're hopeful is that this will be a moment of reset and a moment to restart discussions on capitol hill. there are already a number of cosponsors who have been announced to have those discussions. there are experts on immigration who have worked on this issue on both sides of the aisle, historically, it is an issue that there is bipartisan support, support from the business community, supports from a range of outside groups with different political tilts, and we're hopeful that that will help propel it forward. >> senator menendez said today on a call, he called it a herculean effort to get this through. as you know, it hasn't gone

through as you mentioned before. i mean, there are republicans grumbling today that there's not more in that bill that they want to see. so, is that bill -- what do you think the prospect of that bill getting through is? >> well, i don't know that i can predict that the first day. i mean, it's only been out for 24 hours, but what was important to the president in the outline of this bill is that it is addressing a couple of areas that he doesn't feel have been effectively done in the past. the last four years, the immigration policy has been based around funding for a wall that has not worked, even to keep the country safer, even to keep bad actors out. and so, his approach is multipronged. it is to do smart security, security that will help address and use technology to address key border crossings, address ports of entry more effectively and efficiently and putting that oversight in the hands of the department of homeland security.

it will also help address root causes of migration, and that hasn't been in past bills, as you probably well know, anita. it was not in the bill in 2013. it also has a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocuments immigrants who are living in the country. there are components in the bill that address a lot of issues that have not been addressed in the past, and certainly the components of it that make -- that are talked about smart security are the kind of border security that we think is essential and more effective than what we've seen over the past couple of years. go ahead. oh. can i go to zeke first and then you, kristen? >> i wanted to follow up about the 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days. that's roughly, per diem basis, of where the vaccinations are right now. can you elaborate a little bit why the president isn't setting the bar a little bit higher?

people see these statistics. one tracker had 1.6 million yesterday. why isn't the president shooting just a little bit higher given the magnitude of the crisis here? >> none of us are mathematicians so i asked our team to do a little math on this. the trump administration was given 36 million doses when they were in office for 38 days. they administered a total of about 17 million shots. that's about less than 500,000 shots a day. what we are proposing is to double that to about 1 million shots per day. and we have outlined this goal and objective in coordination and consultation with our health and medical experts, so it is ambitious. it's something that we feel is bold and was called that certainly at the time. and we're working overtime to help to achieve it, try to achieve it. >> but obviously we tried to exceed that if possible. is it possible we may see, you know, in a couple weeks or

months that the president would up that goal? >> well, zeke, there are a lot of factors that go into determining how many shots can get into the arms of americans. we feel confident we can achieve this goal. obviously, there are other vaccines that are being considered at this point in time by the fda. there is funding that will be needed for distribution. there are a number of steps that will help expedite at some point in time, but right now, our focus is on what many health and medical experts have consistently called a bold goal. i will note also that some of the reporting that morning, which kristen asked about earlier, was that the trump administration left us with no plan. it's hard for them to both be exactly true at the same time. and our team has been putting together a plan, our own plan, as dr. fauci talked about, for some time, to achieve this goal. but he also mentioned that there are a number of challenges. it's not just about lining people up, as you all know, but for people watching, in a

football stadium, and giving them shots. we have to overcome vaccine hesitancy. we have to get to health communities where there are -- they don't have access to health centers. that was outlined, a number of steps to address that were outlined in the president's plan today. but you know, this is a bold goal. we're going to work every day to achieve it, and we'll build from there. there's a lot more of the administration to go from there and more work on covid to be done. go ahead, kristen. >> president biden is reversing a number of former president trump's policies and we're seeing some of, from president trump's staffers, being placed on leave or be reassigned. is there an attempt to purge trump officials? >> well, there's a new administration, so obviously, there are a number of new officials in place. i know there was some reporting, for example, and i don't know if this is what you were referencing so you tell me if not of the head of the nlrb. that's an individual who was not carrying out the, you know,

anyone will tell you, not just from our administration, the objectives of the nlrb and so they were -- they're no longer in their position and we'll make those decisions as needed. >> there's not an effort writ large, but you're assessing -- reassessing individuals. >> well, kristen, as you know, when a new administration comes in, there's a massive changeover in political appointees and nominees and people who will serve in a variety of roles. there are some people, christopher wray is an example, i'll just bring him back up, who will continue to serve in his role. but we have great value for career officials, for the officials who have been the heart and soul of agencies across government since long before the trump administration, but who have served through the trump administration as well. >> and on covid, the question, did the transition officials know before yesterday that amazon wanted to get involved in such a meaningful way? >> we -- not that i'm aware of. i'm happy to check.

i mean, when the reporting came out, i asked the question, and i think internally, and you know, what was conveyed to me, and i don't think we discuss ed this yesterday, was that we've had a lot of outreach, some privately, some publicly, from a range of businesses and private sector entities and we certainly welcome that. and we'll be considering all of those offers and what makes the most sense in our plans and proposals. >> so, because there are some trump officials saying they were never offered help from amazon so they're essentially saying they think this was a political call for amazon to wait while lives were hanging in the balance but you're saying that is not the case? >> i'm not aware of the timeline of when amazon reached out. that sounds like a question for amazon to me. go ahead. >> what did you think about all the pardons that trump handed out on his way out the door, and do you know if the d.o.j. or anyone is reviewing any of those? >> well, as you know, we nominated an attorney general just a couple of weeks ago, merrick garland. we're eager to get him confirmed

in the coming weeks, hopefully soon. our view on the pardons, jennifer, is that it's not the way -- it's not a model for how a biden justice department would work. it's not a model, i should say, for how president biden would use his own power. he would use his own power far more judiciously, but we are looking forward and most important for us and for him is that the justice department, as we look ahead, is independent, makes decisions of their own accord, including their review of any investigations or judicial steps that have been taken. >> thank you, jen. jen, follow-up. >> okay. i think we're about to conclude it here, but because it's my second day, let's take two more questions. go ahead in the back. >> is the president going to listen to the pardon attorney -- president bush told president obama that he should use the pardon power early on, but we

know that the -- that the pardon power has been in disrepute in the last week because of president trump's pardons. is president biden going to try to use the power quickly or -- i mean, you said judiciously. what's his take going to be? >> well, judiciously, and i'm not saying you're conveying this, but just for clarity, is not meant to convey speed. it's just meant to convey how he approaches it. as you know, he has a long history on judicial issues, having served as the chairman of the judiciary committee many years ago, but on day two, i don't have any prediction for you in terms of how he would use a pardon attorneys or the role but he has great respect for and value for independence, as you know, and for the role of the judiciary and the independence of that role. okay, last actual question. sorry, zeke, go ahead. >> i appreciate it. i'm going to bounce off a conversation that may or may not have happened. can you tell us, has president

biden spoken to the fed chair, jay powell? if he hasn't, does he have plans to speak to him and generally speaking, how does the president view the stewardship of the fed chair during this economic crisis? >> i don't have any calls to read out for you or to predict for you with the chairman of the federal reserve. he clearly has a great deal of respect and value for the federal reserve and the role they've played historically, given he nominated the former chair to serve as the first female treasury secretary. but i don't have anything more for you. i can venture to get more for you from our economic team. thank you, everyone. i'll see you again tomorrow. >> thank you, jen. >> day two, the white house press briefing from press secretary jen psaki. watching along with some of our favorite reporters and friends, phil rucker, "washington post" senior washington correspondent is here. also joining us, former obama campaign manager david plouffe, who's also an msnbc political analyst. former congresswoman donna

edwards is back, and msnbc medical contributor dr. kavita patel is here. she served as health policy director in the obama white house and i'm going to start with you, dr. patel, because it seems like this briefing will forever be remembered as the one where tony fauci got his groove back. talk about tony fauci unleashed. >> yeah, absolutely, nicole. good to be with you. and it was certainly we saw a very different fauci commenting on how it's okay to say he doesn't know and taking some subtle or not so subtle jabs, but i think he really did have, i think, his best moment in that you could tell he was able to say anything he needed to, had not had to prerehearse that and candidly, let the reporters pummel him with what are really technically difficult questions to answer but only dr. fauci can do that. only him -- only he can explain cushion effect of, you know,

immunity in vaccines so it was incredible. i think what was also noteworthy is jen psaki's tone about getting back to people, being pretty respectful in just a very different way, but also being clear about how hard this job is going to be ahead of them, and i think dr. fauci did the same. >> i want to play some of dr. fauci. i had the same thought, though, that you couldn't fathom dr. fauci under the previous administration being so technical and taking his time, detailing how difficult and how challenging and how long some of these things were going to take. let me play some, though. we'll all talk about it on the other side. >> you've joked a couple times today already about the difference in -- that you feel in being kind of the spokesperson for this issue in this administration versus the previous one. can you talk a little bit about how free -- how much different do you feel less constrained? what is the, you know, i mean, you, for so many times, you

stood up behind the podium with donald trump standing behind you. that was a different -- that was a different feeling, i'm sure, than it is today. can you talk a little bit about how you feel kind of released from what you had been doing for the last year? >> yeah, but you said i was joking about it. i was very serious. i wasn't joking. no, actually, i mean, obviously, i don't want to be going back over history but it is very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that was uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact. i take no pleasure at all in being a situation of contradicting the president so it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it. the idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what evidence -- what the

science is and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. >> dr. patel, it will take a while, i think, for us to process what was just said, which was basically that the top -- really, one of the world's top experts in infectious diseases did not feel at liberty to speak his mind until today's briefing. talk about how the public will now benefit from faster access to the latest and most blunt assessments from our top scientists in tony fauci. >> yeah, i think the most important consequence is that the american public is going to hear the truth and a consistent message, because this is not limited to today. i'm confident you're going to see not just dr. fauci, but dr. walensky, so many others, with incredible credentials breaking down the science and explaining it to you. so i do hope it translates into people understanding why this

year is going to be a difficult year with people getting vaccines, yet continuing to have to wear masks until we know what's happening, and also not having access to a vaccine for children. lots of questions that people are asking and have never had a clear, consistent message around, and i think you're also going to see, i mean, you saw it with president biden already. he has made it clear this needs to get done, and dr. fauci is one of many members of a team who president biden expects to get the job done, but what a difference this makes, because now, it's not people like me who have to try to translate this and tell people, well, this is the truth and this is not the truth. we actually have someone at the podium and supported by the press secretary and not necessarily, you know, diminished by the president or anybody in that office. >> phil rucker, i don't want to be the skunk at the garden party but it won't always look like this, right? this is a structurally, at times, adversarial relationship

and i say that as someone who worked in the communications and press operation at a white house, but this is what it is supposed to look like, an exchange of information. when you don't know, you say you don't know. it is not supposed to look like what you and your colleagues encountered the last four years. just talk about how you guys have had to recalibrate for the briefing room being a place where an honest exchange of information takes place. >> well, first of all, i don't think anybody in that briefing room today was sitting down expecting to be called fake news or attacked personally, so for starters, that's a change. it's a much more professional exchange of questions and answers and we've been used to seeing for the last four years. but ultimately, the job is the same. every reporter that's going into that room is asking questions to get answers related to the news and on behalf of the american people, and there are a lot of crises facing this country and this administration is going to have to be held accountable for that going forward.

and you can see already starting today a very deliberate but it's going to take a long time effort by president biden and his team to restore faith in the government's coronavirus response. you saw biden a couple of hours ago say that he thinks the death toll could reach 500,000 people in this country over the next month or so. and that's a big statement, and so there's a real shift from the happy talk of the trump years to acknowledging the crisis ahead and kind of bracing the american people for how bad it could get before it gets better, and i think the journalists in that room, it's incumbent upon them, and we're already seeing them starting to do this, to hold this government accountable for meeting those metrics and delivering on those promises, the promise of 100 million vaccines over the first 100 days of this presidency, for example, and many others. >> david plouffe, i want your thoughts on these opening acts from the biden white house, a very intentional and message

discipline first 36 hours from my eyes and i'm just counting from when they -- before the inauguration, they held the memorial through all of the events yesterday and through these two first briefings from jen psaki. it's pretty clear what they're trying to do in terms of asserting their command and control and responsibility for ending and protecting people from the coronavirus. >> there's no doubt, nicole. by the way, i'm sure you share this view, i never thought boring white house briefings could be so exciting and so exhilarating so it's nice to see them back. i think that, listen, there's so many crises, and i think joe biden's been very good both during the campaign and his inaugural address, today, talking about all of them but covid is obviously at the top of the list. so much demands on getting the pandemic under control so seeing tony fauci unshackled is great, and i think we'll see more transparency. i hope what we see from the white house, because i think it would serve them well and more importantly the country, is just

maximum transparency. infographics, information designed for social media. here's what the vaccination supply is like. here's where there's bottle necks. here's how many people have been vaccinated in each state by day. i think we've been missing that because we had an administration before that told us everything was okay, and it was everything but. and i think in a way their job is, of course, you want to talk about what you're prioritizing the successes we had along the way, that's important but you're really a mechanic under the hood. and just telling people what you're seeing and what you're going to do to improve the pace, particularly of the vaccines. so, i think we're going to see more of that and i think that it's going to be really, really important that every american, whether they voted for joe biden or not, says, whatever else, they seem to be giving all they can to this, both from the president and vice president on down. so i think they're off to a good start in that regard. and there's no doubt that his administration, you can even say the first four years, so much is going to be determined six months from now, seven months

from now, dr. fauci talked about the fall. are we able to have schools opened everywhere? are all businesses able to be open? are restaurants able to be open? do we get to that herd immunity threshold? the big thing is the big thing and i think their priorities and focuses have been right but hopefully we'll see even more transparency because i think the american people have really suffered for a lack of it. >> you know, i thought one of the -- to your point, and i want to get your thoughts on this question, this conversation taking place, in a somewhat distorted manner on the right around unity. i thought jen psaki's answer was quite skillful when she said, what do you mean what are we going to offer the right? aren't all americans, regardless of their political affiliation, interested in vaccinations? aren't all americans regardless of their political affiliation interested in getting our kids back into the classroom and out of our dining rooms? aren't all americans interested in economic stimulus so that the blows we've all endured and frankly i thought she did a good job of underscoring how the

focus will be on the most vulnerable communities and making things more equitable, a focus you didn't hear very much from that podium from the last white house. what do you make of their efforts so far to steer this conversation of unity back to their own terms, their own agenda, and what they mean by unity? >> well, quite frankly, nicole, it's been pathetic and hard to watch, so you know, it's fascinating, by the way, you see some on the right saying they have problems with joe biden's speech because he talked about white supremacy and racism. almost identifying themselves as those things. you know, wanting to basically forget the insurrection. let's just forget that happened. we can never forget that happened. not today, not next month, not next year, not next decade. so, i think the more the white house says, here's what we need to do to rebuild our economy, to provide more covid relief, here's what we need to do from a vaccination standpoint, and really is out there every day banging on that, i think they

will strengthen themselves. so yeah, i think the way that some are reacting, which is, hey, if joe biden does anything we don't agree with, he is creating disunity, and that's obviously nonsense. and listen, at the end of the day, joe biden and his team really can't worry about the politics of any of this. the only presidents that have been, i think, challenged in an equal way are roosevelt, franklin roosevelt, and abraham lincoln. they've just got to make their case and not worry about these washington subtleties of people who seem to have their feelings and egos bruised remarkably easily. >> i know we're going to lose you in a minute. i want to hit you with one more before that happens, david plouffe. since we have been on the air covering the briefing, mitch mcconnell has announced intention or desire to delay the impeachment trial of donald trump to give the president more time to get his defenses ready, i suppose, is the rationale. i think it's an important

conversation and in your spirit to not worry about the politics of it but to just make clear that the republicans haven't, in a very meaningful way, broken with donald trump, even after donald trump incited an insurrection on the capitol that endangered all of their lives and there is a desire and a fascinatesing -- i think you put your finger on what's so fascinating. they feel thin-skinned about criticizing white supremacy and the insurrectionists. why do you think that is? >> well, i think that it rings true to many of them. and they don't -- they basically want to say that the insurrection, the attempted coup, the attempt to throw out votes, oh, that had nothing to do with race. race was at the core of it. it's been at the core of a lot of our issues for a long time in this country around voting and so many other but it's at the core of it. they only wanted to throw out

votes in philadelphia and detroit and wisconsin or atlanta, perversely, of course, trump did better in many of those places than he did four years ago. so at the end of the day, we now have reports that some of the house members might have led some of these insurrectionists on tours. we have to know a lot more about that. every day there's more video that comes out. every day, there's more information that comes out. so, at the end of the day, my view on this would be i think probably 70% of americans would like there to be accountability for what happened on january 6th and leading up to it. i don't care if it was 10%. we have to hold everybody accountable who had anything to do with this, including trump. what i don't get is if i were the republicans, and i'm not, i'd want to get the impeachment trial done as quickly as possible, whether he gets convicted or not. because i think there are a lot of them that they're afraid of distancing themselves from trump, but they really would like to move on from him. so, at the end of the day, now, the other reason they may want to delay it is trump may have trouble finding a lawyer to take his case, but at the end of the day, this needs to happen as

quickly as possible. i think it's in the country's interest but it needs to be done thoroughly and again i've never seen people -- you know, this wasn't like a disagreement about tax rates. or this wasn't a disagreement about healthcare coverage, okay? we had over half the republican members of the house vote to overturn the election after the insurrection. okay? that's where we are as a country. and the kevin mccarthys and the hawleys and the cruzs, we know why they want to move on. we know why they want to minimize this. they want to forget like it ever happened. and again, you and i have talked about this. to me, this is -- we've got to get the pandemic under control, but this has to stay front and center because we know what will happen if it doesn't. there will be another coup attempt. and if there's not the right kind of accountability, it might be successful. >> david plouffe, thank you for staying and watching jen psaki's second white house press briefing along with us. we're grateful to have your time today and your insights. i want to turn to you, tim

o'brian and the idea that that which was so normal, and i have to say, i'm not even sure it was really a revered tradition. i'm going to come back to you on this, phil rucker, of the white house briefing. the idea that it is, like, oxygen for everyone that sort of lived in an ecosystem that we maybe took for granted before trump, that this briefing is such a big deal, the casey hunt used this great term yesterday. she called it radical normalcy. today's briefing seemed like another step toward radical normalcy. >> it did. and nicole, this whole day has felt like this step toward radical normalcy. the president was signing executive orders without a sharpie and with a signature that wasn't the sort of huge up and down strokes of president trump. everything -- the optics, it all feels like kind of a reset, like going back in time, even the briefing is beginning now with the first question going to the

associated press wire reporter, which is sort of a tradition, some would say an antiquated tradition, but one nonetheless that the biden team is looking to go back to. but you know, it's not going to be smooth sailing necessarily. there were a couple of flash points in that briefing that i think are worth paying some attention to. for example, biden has been in the senate for more than three decades before becoming vice president. he was -- or jen psaki was asked multiple times what his position on whether to get rid of the filibuster in the senate, and he didn't take a position. there's a desire among this white house team to sort of keep a distance from the politics in a 50/50 divided senate and i think they're going to feel a lot of pressure to get involved there, and it could get a little bit messy. it's going to be very difficult for him to govern with that senate, even though chuck schumer is now the majority leader and so you can see some things on the horizon that could be -- become obstacles for this white house in the days to come.

>> and donna edwards, they are barrelling ahead with policy pronouncements. i don't know if it rises to the flashpoint level but there was also an exchange around immigration and around immigration policy. just talk about this white house's opening moves, opening steps, what you see, and where you think you're heading. do you think we're heading back to legitimate policy debates around the merits or do you see this as david plouffe sees it, that there needs to be accountability for the recent actions or are you in the walk and chew gum camp? >> i'm in the walk and chew gum camp because i don't think it's possible to move on fully with the kind of unity that president biden describes without that accountability, and so that actually has to take place, and it's not just about, you know, what you're going to do with donald trump, but it's how do you restore norms and accountability to the constitution? so that has to take place.

but i'll tell you what i found very refreshing. and it is that for the first time in, i think, in four years, i actually awakened this morning focused on policy. i actually took the time to read the -- at least the executive summary of the covid plan and its detail and i look forward to looking at the rest of it because i think it's been important, whether it's on immigration, and we saw a number of executive orders on immigration, but a slew of executive orders around the covid response. this is what president biden wants to do, which is to move the country forward, and you can only do that out of a white house by really focusing very adeptly on these policy questions and then he was -- i think he's been -- it's been very interesting that he understands the legislative branch, and so he was willing -- he's willing to say, these are

the things that i can do by executive order, but we're going to need legislation, and i'm either going to be sending legislation to the congress or we're going to be talking to the legislative leaders about my policy priorities, and i think that that is a change back to the kind of norm that we understand in terms of governance between the executive branch and the legislative branch that we have been missing for four years, and we've seen it on full display, even in these -- this, whatever, day and a half. >> day and a half. i mean, to your point, donna edwards, the coordinated message by different and, if you will, sort of escalating messengers on covid is such a basic thing but you just never saw it in the trump era. you never saw a principal deliver a speech and then the policy folks go out and flesh it out, executive orders be signed to sort of bolster it and make some of it so and then a press briefing focused on it and if you just slice off the day one message, which was obviously all

this executive action on covid, fauci announcing that we were rejoining the world health organization, tony fauci at the briefing talking about being liberated and jen psaki's opening remarks about the ways they were moving, couple that with the -- a presidential speech this afternoon on the very same topic, it is not worth -- it is not worth not overlooking that the country has been so disoriented by zero information about what the government is doing on their behalf, pushed out to them on a daily basis. the reason there is a room in the building, in the west wing, is so that the public knows what their government is doing for them. i just -- and maybe this is the former communicator in me, i thought it was an extraordinary display of competence in terms of driving a single message on a single day. >> no, i absolutely agree. i mean, we've been living in chaos where even on the same topic, we could have four, five, six different messages coming

out of the white house and out of agencies. in this administration, in the biden administration, if the beginning is a -- an indication of where we're going, we will have one message seamless throughout government, whatever is coming from agencies, is consistent with what comes out of the white house, is consistent with what we hear in the briefing room, and i think that that will make -- that should give americans a lot more confidence that we're running a competent government that's able to work on the things that are of priority to them. i felt very confident that i now actually have an idea of what the message is on covid and what the direction of the government is going to be on covid. i don't think i had that before. >> i was just so cheered to see tony fauci almost physically unburdened by whatever he had to endure in the last administration. phil rucker, donna edwards,

dr. kavita patel, thank you so much for watching along with us and starting us off this hour. when we come back, president biden calling for unity but after the siege at the capitol, the victims of an earlier white supremacist attack are telling the new president that unity only happens after accountability. plus, another sign of normalcy. the ex-president's club gets together to pledge its support to president biden. its newest member, not invited. and it's not just this country feeling a new sense of optimism today. our allies around the world are reacting to the new american president. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break, so don't go anywhere. we're just getting started. o doo anywhere we're just getting started just a silly mistake. i guess i look pretty... ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. progressive is always here for you with round-the-clock service. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. good. thanks again for -- for rushing over. are you kidding? this is what 24/7 protection looks like.

okay. -you smell like fish. -sorry. i was talking to jamie. we're carvana, the company -you smell like fish. -sorry. who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana.

this is a great nation. we're a good people. and to overcome the challenges in front of us requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy. unity. it requires us to come together

in common love that defines us as americans. opportunity, liberty, dignity and respect. >> that was president biden in his second address as president last night calling for americans to come together to confront the incredible challenges we face as a country. his call for unity came not just two weeks to the day after the capitol was stormed but also amid a massive federal investigation into the events of that dark, dark day. and questions about how those who incited the riot, including former president and many republicans still in congress should be held accountable. "new york times" is reporting today that for many people in charlottesville, virginia, the sight of the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally that inspired joe biden to run for president in the first place, the capitol attack hit close to home. and they have some advice for the new president saying, this, quote, for them, this year's mob violence took aim at the peaceful transfer of presidential power, but it's the

broader transfer of democratic power from the largely white america to a rising multicultural coalition that is testing the nation. mr. biden should not pitch unity those who oppose shared political power, they say, but should unite the country in defeating those who stand in the way. joining our conversation is elizabeth newman, former assistant secretary of counterterrorism and threat prevention at the department of homeland security, now an advisor to the group, defending democracy together. also joining us, my friend, former rnc chairman michael steele. i have been dying to talk to both of you but this story took my breath away, elizabeth newman. let me read you a quote from heather heyer, the young woman who lost her life in that deadly kkk rally. she says this. healing requires holding the perpetrators accountable. she said. unity follows justice. look at the lessons learned from charlottesville, she said, the rush to hug each other and sing kumbaya is not an effective strategy.

>> i have had the opportunity to watch ms. bro testify a few times and i've worked with some of the leaders in charlottesville, the former mayor of charlottesville, mike singer, and some associations or foundations that were created in the wake of charlottesville, and i fully and wholeheartedly agree the process of bringing about reconciliation requires that you have to address -- you have to hold people accountable. you have to have those tough conversations. you have to do it gently. saying, i told you so doesn't usually go so well, but you can't -- you can't do what we're starting to see many republicans do, which is this, you know, broad brush stroke of, okay, we can move on now and let's go criticize some policy issues that we don't like that biden just did.

that's not unity. and that -- and i don't know that we're going to achieve unity any time soon. and i think you even saw in biden's remarks and you saw in the amazing poet yesterday that we're striving towards unity, but that striving requires starting with the truth. the truth is the president lied. the truth is because of those lies and because of republicans that enabled those lies that per pech waited those lies, because of conservative media that amplified those lies, people were deceived and stormed the capitol and lives were lost. and there were also other dark elements that were involved in that movement. white supremacists and anti-government militia and they also decided to capitalize on that moment. there's a lot to unpack there, and i don't know that we get to just move on from this moment. i would really call on republican leaders in

particular, the best way to eventually get to unity and the best way to heal your party is to take accountability and be introspective, repent of your contributions to what got us here today. >> michael steele, there is something happening on the right that is, i think, the by-product of five years of trump's disinformation, and that is the asymmetry of a political response to a factual report. elizabeth just laid out in precise and eloquent detail the facts. the facts are that donald trump lied about the election result, so incited and enraged his supporters, including white supremacists who became violent and then launched an insurrection on the capitol. the response from the right is to attack, attack, attack, attack anyone in the media or on programs like this that simply asserts the truth and attack joe biden for wanting accountability and unity. there can be no unity without

accountability, as heather heyer's mother says in "the new york times" today, but just talk about the republican tactics because they are on display, and i -- i don't know. i feel like bruce willis in the sixth sense. i see dead people. i see the republican dirty tricks. >> yeah. yeah, we both see them. we know them. we have probably been in the room shaking our heads going, no, we're not going to do that. we're not going to go outside these walls with that. >> and then we do. >> but look, this is the space you're in. they're in a defensive posture. where's the offense here? the offense is the defense. and we need to understand it for exactly that. the offense by the republicans is to -- exactly as elizabeth just laid out very well, to go out and say, well, we're going to do unity, but we're going to do unity on our terms. and anything that's not unity on our terms, well, that ain't unity. and so, what joe biden has to do

now is go, no, that's not how we do this. you need to come to the table prepared to do the mea culpa because we are here because this is where you led us. we are here because this is what you stood behind and said nothing about. you did not disown the carnage that took place on january 6th. you embraced it, in fact, encouraged it. so now you have to step into this. one important point, when i took over the party in 2009, it was very, very important for me to approach where we were based on where we had come from. we had come from a place where the party had lost in 2008, lost in 2006, and we had to understand why. why the party was being rejected. so you have to begin with the mea culpa. you have to begin with owning the losses, owning the carnage that you have left behind

because if you don't do that, you can't begin to take the steps forward. besides, no one will believe you. you have no credibility. i can't go to the country and say, hey, vote for us when they go, wait a minute, you got all this stuff, all this baggage. what about that? oh, ignore that. you have to own that. so, we owned january 6th, folks. and we have to be honest as republicans about that before the country begins to believe our conversation around unity, our conversation and wanting to move forward. they're not going to move forward with us when they don't believe you believe it. >> that's absolutely right. elizabeth, you mentioned amanda gorman, the poet laureate yesterday. let me play some of her conversation with my colleague, lester holt. >> there was this moment of just kind of horror and, you know, disgust at what was happening, but then i also felt an enormous

responsibility to say, okay, this is occurring. what am i going to do about it? and even more importantly, what am i going to write about it in this moment in time? and so i definitely tried to weave through that type of understanding and reconciliation with this event in the poem. that is to say, i wanted to use the words to resanctify a space in a building that had been violated. i wanted to use my words to repurify this idea of the united states, which we'd seen so tainted via violence. >> i mean, a beautiful mind and a beautiful architecture of words, but a beautiful spirit and that is the mission, to repurify the idea of the united states, and i just think it's incumbent upon any one of us in a public space to knock down the fake claims and the fake calls for unity among republicans who aren't willing to purify even the building in which they work and the crimes that took place

there. >> absolutely. i mean, her words so blessed me. they -- i needed it. i needed the hope that she offered and just, oh, it was just -- it was just phenomenal. but i want to point out that the moment that we're in and michael said, you know, the republicans own this. they do. and that's part of the reason i think we see president biden not forcefully stepping in and holding them accountable, because in part, it is incumbent upon the republicans to clean their own house. it's incumbent upon them to debunk the lies, and when we look at radicalization, when you look at how you move people off pathways to violence, it's very hard for outsiders to come into a community and convince them that they're wrong. it really has to come from within the community, so we're looking for credible voices to speak up and cast a vision for a

better future that does not involve these lies, and to help bring some of these people back to reality that have been so deceived. and i think, in particular, we're at a very tenuous moment. we're at a tenuous moment as qanon adherents are disheartened because what they thought was going to happen yesterday didn't happen. you have a number of trump people who are very disheartened because they thought trump would be able to pull it out. and we have an opportunity to win those people back over if we can gently help them, lead them to the truth. but here's the deal. that requires republican senators to do the right thing when impeachment comes up, and it looks like it may come up as soon as next week. that means they need to hold donald trump accountable for his role in january 6th. and that's going to require them to, on the record, acknowledge this big lie, that maybe they even were complicit in or enabled in some way. so that requires them to repent,

and it requires them to have integrity and do the right thing. if they would do that, relatively simple act of voting with integrity and i'm not saying repentance is easy. it's hard to admit that you made a mistake and that you contributed to this. but if they would take this moment that they have, it would reset a lot for the party. it would allow people of integrity to find their voice and speak out against the more evil parts that have taken over the party, so it's really, really important that the republicans be held accountable for their actions, and that's why i joined the republican accountability project, because we are committed to making sure that republican senators know, we are watching. if you vote to convict and stand up with your conscience and have integrity, we will support you if there are threats to primary you. and if you are going to choose

the path of josh hawley or ted cruz and continue to perpetuate the lies, we will likewise hold you accountable when your election comes up. it is enough as far as i'm concerned. i do not consider myself a political person. i'm a security person. but politics and security intersected on january 6th. your lies led to death, and you need to be held accountable for that. that's how we eventually get to unity. we have to hold people accountable within the party itself, they have to make an affirmative decision that we are no longer going to support lies and conspiracy theories. >> wow. having been a political person, your voice is very welcome in the political space, and it will improve our security, and i think you're absolutely right. go ahead, michael. >> i was going to say, can i just say real quick, elizabeth just put that so, so well. >> i know. i want to record it and play it over again. >> right. the truth, the reality of this is, you can't smack me with the world watching and then expect me to say i'm sorry. >> right.

that's right. well, there you go. that's what you and i do. >> you're the one who's accountable for the act, not me. >> that's right. that's right. i could talk to you two for the whole two hours. elizabeth neumann, thank you so much. michael is sticking around a little bit longer. when we return, the latest meeting of the ex-president's club was a show of support for president joe biden. that's next after a quick break. don't go anywhere. n. that's next after a quick break. don't go anywhere. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) ♪ ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs.

flexible hours.

that work around your schedule. jackson hewitt is here to fight for the biggest refund you deserve. whether you're a 9-5er or 5-9er.

to defend against dark forces attacking your organization, you need to see in the dark. to have the wisdom to understand multiple cyber threats. the precision focus to end attacks instantly. on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. join the world's leading companies in our mission to defend. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere.

three of us are standing here talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the institutional integrity of our country. >> we are both trying to come back to normalcy, deal with totally abnormal challenges, and do what we do best, which is try to make a more perfect union. >> we can have fierce disagreements and yet recognize each other's common humanity and that as americans, we have more in common than what separates us. >> after the last four years, it's easy to forget what presidential leadership is supposed to sound like. it really was a profound message of hope, though, last night, courtesy of what's been called the most exclusive fraternity on the planet, the ex-president's club, conspicuously absent, donald trump. and it's rather obvious why. the subtext of that recommitment

to american values and a transfer of power was the idea that trump was an outlier, an aberration, that we are really better than what we've been through over the last four years. joining our conversation, msnbc political contributor, former congressman david jolly, now the national chairman of the serve america movement. michael steele is still here. david, your thoughts on everything that transpired yesterday and specifically the three presidents -- former presidents who were in attendance. >> critically important words from three former presidents, and though they may have been offered to our new president, joe biden, the audience intended was the world. that was a message for the world to hear and for world leaders to hear and american democracy, in the words of joe biden, had prevailed yesterday, that our system had sustained four years of disruption under donald trump. and all you have to do for a brief moment, nicole, is think about if the message of unity had failed yesterday, where we

would be. the importance of that message of unity. you know, joe biden did not give an overtly ideological speech. it would have seemed tone deaf. it would have been tone deaf if he had seemed overconfident. i mean, we've lived through four years of a president offering false confidence. we are a nation beleaguered by a pandemic with an economy that's been supported by artificial stimulus from the congress and from the fed. we are dealing with a radical, violent political movement in the united states, and so the only message yesterday that would have worked is unity and strength of our democracy. it was the only card that joe biden had to play unfortunately for the country, it was joe biden's best card. unity and strength of our democracy. and his message was affirmed by president obama, clinton, and bush 43. >> yeah, i mean, i want to associate myself with everything that david jolly just said. >> hear hear. >> but michael steele, i was thinking when i watched them of

how joe biden can tap them because another thing that wasn't normal was most presidents in both parties tap their predecessors to help them with big things. often, big philanthropic things. president 43's things. president 43's father, the first president bush and bill clinton raised money for victims of natural disasters and floods and there is a role for former presidents. and i wonder if you have any thoughts on what joe -- president biden might tap them for. >> first, i want to comment on my friend's comments. i think you're going to see 180-degree turn in terms of how this white house works with these former presidents who by their very presence here today not just affirmed the collegiality of that particular club, but affirmed their reentry

into the body politic on behalf of this president. and i think that's so incredibly important and will be necessary going forward. just think about what a president george bush reaching out to mitch mcconnell and other republicans on the house and senate side to help move the country's agenda forward. i didn't say joe biden's agenda, i said the country's agenda forward. just think about what a president barack obama now having his vice president there, when it gets really sticky when you hear those progressives sort of beating the drum to move off of the country's agenda, what that will mean. i think it's ant important opportunity. >> david jolly and michael steele, thank you both so much for spending some time with us today. it's great to see you both. when we return, as we do every day, remembering lives well lived. well lived.

dry, distressed skin that struggles? you have a powerful partner. new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. a unique formula with a rich complex of aloe, vitamin b5 and our highest concentration of prebiotic oat. it intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. and nothing feels better than that. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. try the dermatologist-tested body wash and balm, too! let me tell you something, i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. took advantage of any american senior,

or worse, that it was some way to take your home. learn how homeowners are strategically using a reverse mortgage loan to cover expenses, pay for healthcare, preserve your portfolio and so much more. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. find out how reverse mortgages really work with aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage guide. with a reverse mortgage, you can pay whatever you can, when it works for you, or, you can wait, and pay it off in one lump sum when you leave your home. discover the option that's best for you. call today and find out more. i'm proud to be a part of aag, i trust em, i think you can too.

there will be days when you feel everything is going your way, and there will be days when you just feel happy. but the people around you might be having a bad day. so when you see that, don't just stand there and ignore them. help them, listen to them and be there for them. it only takes a small detail to help brighten someone else. thank you for listening. >> wow. that was braden wilson two years ago delivering a speech to his eighth grade class, and we'll be up front about it today. braden died two weeks ago from a rare inflammatory syndrome linked to covid-19 in children. despite following all precautions. he was only 15 years old. we say it all the time. remarkable people like braden deserve to be remembered for the way they lived, not just the way they died. and according to the ventura county star, braden was sweet, pure in spirit, and wise beyond his years, as that tape shows. like most kids, he enjoyed

swimming, dancing, painting, comedy, and theater. but he went about those things with a unique and unceasing brightness. an old teacher told the ventura county star that braden was, quote, one of the kindest, most generous students he'd ever taught, that his projects were a unique spark of joy. in a letter written after braden passed, his mom wrote, "alas, your days for earthy adventures by my side has quickly drained, but your grace, joy, kindness and beauty will remain forever. in braden's honor, do something nice for someone today, someone you love. check on a friend and spare a thought for braden's family, now dealing with unfathomable pain and loss. we will be right back. we made e for veterans like martin.

when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa i have an idea for a trade. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. why don't you call td ameritrade for a strategy gut check? what's that? you run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired my interior decorator. get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. ♪♪ apps are used everywhere... except work. why is that? is it because people love filling out forms?

maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports. i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) ♪ ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs.

cyber attacks are relentlessly advancing. to end them, cybereason built a cyber security solution so advanced... it can end attacks today -- on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. and deliver future-ready protection, keeping you sharp for tomorrow. join us, the defenders, in our mission. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere.

as always, thank you so much nor letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. we're grateful. "the beat" with ari melber, who had a very late night, starts right now. hi, ari. >> how did you know about that, nicolle? weren't you asleep? >> i can't hear you, but i'm glad to see you upright. nice to see you, my friend. >> nice to see you, nicolle. thank you very much. sometimes we have those audio issues. i hear you now. you sound great. they get their money's worth out of all of us. >> i don't know how you knew, because i hope and trust you were asleep by then. >> well, you know, i keep an eye, on especially my time slot neighbors. i know. i'm watching you. >> nothing escapes you. well, it was an interesting newsworthy time to be sure. good to be with you. i want to welcome everyone to "the beat." i'm joining you